Great trip run by qualified guides!
We left Stewart island at dusk and first reached the edge of a first island where we saw a yellow-eyed penguin (from far though, but since they are super rare, it’s better to leave them in peace!)
Then we reached another island and started walking super quietly on a track in the forest. We were 7 guests walking one after the other with 1 guide ahead of us and 1 guide behind us. I was walking just behing the first guide so I saw very well the female kiwi peacefully crossing the track. That was amazing! Then we exchanged places in the queue so everybody could get a chance to see the kiwi. We continued our way to a beach where we kept on looking for kiwis. The guides had special binoculars to see at night and that’s how they spotted a second male kiwi that we watched for maybe 5 minutes while he was searching for food. At that stage everyone was satisfied. We looked at the tracks of the kiwi and started heading back. While entering the forest, we saw a third kiwi, a young one. That was more than we expected!
All in all, a very good experience. The staff was friendly and qualified, and you can get partly refunded if you’re not lucky enough to see a kiwi.
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